PREFACE THE text-book American History, written for the use of high schools by A. H. Sanford and myself, includes, as a portion of the bibliographical material connected with each chapter, Readings in American History. The present volume is the fulfillment of the promise that a limited number of sources would be collected which might be suitable for collateral reading. I am convinced, from my own experience as teacher in the secondary schools, that the judicious use of such material adds life and reality to historical study. In making the selections I have constantly kept in mind that pupils of high-school age are ordinarily but slightly interested in constitutional documents. A relatively large number of the extracts have been taken, therefore, from the journals and letters of persons who were contemporary with the events described. Books of travel have likewise been drawn upon extensively. Topics have been chosen in the various fields of human activity, political, industrial, social, educational, and religious, but, in general, more extended selections, from fewer sources, have been made than has heretofore been usual in similar collections. In the preparation of the present volume I am under special obligations to Albert H. Sanford, of the La Crosse, Wisconsin, State Normal School; Edward C. Page, of the De Kalb, Illinois, State Normal School; and William V. Pooley, of Northwestern University, for reading certain chapters of ་ |